In a country defined by scarcity and control, Enora Byrnes leaves the watchful eyes and secret agendas of the powerful and enters a society living on the fringes. Life beneath the surface brings her face to face with a world struggling to survive. Armed with knowledge and honed into a weapon for the resistance, she fights alongside those whom society deems rebels and uses her skills to steal a secret kept hidden from humanity. Enora becomes what she has hunted: a traitor.

As Enora embarks on a fateful quest, will she find the one thing that could give her world hope or a truth that is far worse than she ever imagined?

My Review:

GOD! I have such mixed feeling about this book! It’s so good right until the last chapter… I really hated the ending on this one. Right up till the ending this book was everything I wanted its predecessor to be, the characters are well developed and things were actually happening in the plot that really held my attention. I still think this book is very original and I have to give major props for that!

The plot follows Springer and Enora’s time with the rebels and their quest for truth, the descriptive qualities of the writing really help me understand the struggles of a life with a water shortage, something I’ve never experienced living in Devon, England. It’s scary to think that worldwide there is people genuinely experiencing this hunger and thirst.

I loved how this book was straight into the action (thank you after the green withered). I loved the main characters in this story especially Enora’s arc of realising the harsh reality of her and the rest of humanities future.

I did feel that some aspects of the story were majorly unrealistic or unjustified as they didn’t really serve a purpose to the plot other than potential shock value. The book does have a strong moral message which I can completely get on board with, I just wish there was a stronger message of hope.

Overall the book was really enjoyable to read and I cannot fault Kristen’s storytelling style. I would absolutely recommend this book especially if you enjoyed After the Green Withered.

Oh god those are especially bad. “I know that it fits…but I wanted it to end otherwise…but I know that it fits…but I still want it to end otherwise…oh god is there fanfic, I hope there is fanfic” I had this issue with at least two books and it’s the worst (and there was no fanfic 😭).